This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-24163, filed May 3, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink-jet printer, and more particularly, to an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge from the ink-jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, an ink-jet printer generally comprises a carriage 20 for carrying an ink cartridge 10 mounted thereon along a predetermined guide rail (not illustrated). The ink cartridge 10 has an ink vessel 11 for storing ink, an ink cartridge head 13 for controlling an ink nozzle (not shown) disposed at a lower side of the ink vessel 11, and a latch lid 15 for mounting the ink cartridge 10 to the carriage 20.
The carriage 20 comprises a supporting frame 21 mounted to a main frame (not illustrated) and moved along the guide rail, a receptacle 22 disposed at the supporting frame 21 for serving as a sub-guide when the ink cartridge 10 is mounted, and latching means for securing the ink cartridge 10 to the receptacle 22 by latching the receptacle 22 to the latch lid 15. The latching means comprises a spring 23, and a latch 24 disposed at one side of the supporting frame 21 and corresponding to the latch lid 15, which is elastically pressed by the spring 23. Also, a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) 25 and an elastic element 26 are provided between the supporting frame 21 and the receptacle 22. The FPC 25 supplies power to the ink cartridge head 13 and the elastic element 26 for increasing a contact force between a dimple 25a provided on the FPC 25 and the ink cartridge head 13.
In order to mount the ink cartridge 10 to the carriage 20, the ink cartridge 10 is inserted into the receptacle 22. Next, an upper end of the ink cartridge 10 is forcibly pushed toward the carriage 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a sloping surface of the latch lid 15 raises the latch 24 while sliding over a sloping surface of the latch 24. At the same time, the latch lid 15 moves forward in the direction indicated by the arrow labeled xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d. If the latch lid 15 is completely moved in the xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d direction, the ink cartridge 10 is in close contact with one sidewall of the receptacle 22, and also the latch 24 descends due to a recovery force of the spring 23, thereby preventing the latch lid 15 from moving in the direction indicated by the arrow labeled xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d.
The ink cartridge 10 is removed from the carriage 20 in reverse order to the order by which the ink cartridge 10 is mounted to the carriage 20. That is, the upper end of the ink cartridge 10 is pulled forcibly in the xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d direction, and thus the latch lid 15 is removed from the one sidewall of the receptacle 22 while lifting up the latch 24, so that the ink cartridge 10 is removed from the carriage 20.
However, when the ink cartridge 10 is mounted in the way as described above, the spring 23 must have a predetermined force for increasing the contact force between the dimple 25a and the ink cartridge head 13. Accordingly, it is difficult for a user to overcome the force of the spring 23 and replace the ink cartridge 10. Also, it is not clear how to handle the ink cartridge 10 during mounting and removal. Thus, when an unskilled user handles the ink cartridge 10, there may be damage to the ink cartridge head 13 or the dimple 25a. 
Furthermore, in order to remove the ink cartridge 10 from the carriage 20, the user needs sufficient space to hold the ink cartridge 10 and pull out the ink cartridge 10. However, this space may be so small that the user must use his/her fingertips or fingernails. Thus, fingernails may be broken, injured, or may contact components of the ink cartridge 10, thereby causing damage.
Furthermore, it is difficult for the user to ascertain with the naked eye whether the ink cartridge 10 is mounted accurately. Thus, the ink cartridge 10 might be mounted inaccurately, unbeknownst to the user. If the ink cartridge 10 is mounted inaccurately, the contact force between the dimple 25a and the ink cartridge head 13 becomes weak, and thus the ink nozzle cannot be properly controlled and printing quality deteriorates.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge of an ink-jet printer in which the ink cartridge is mounted and removed with little effort from a user.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an apparatus to remove an ink cartridge of an ink-jet printer, the apparatus includes a carriage having a supporting frame movably supported by a guide rail, and a receptacle connected to the supporting frame, an ink cartridge removable from the receptacle, the ink cartridge having a latching protrusion formed at an upper end thereof, a latching unit disposed at the supporting frame, being compressible and de-compressible. In a compressed state, the latching unit latches the latching protrusion of the ink cartridge mounted in the receptacle, and in a de-compressed state, the latching unit is released from the latching protrusion. The apparatus further includes a moving unit having a joint portion to pivot at a predetermined angle, the moving unit pivotally disposed at the supporting frame, to pivot in a first direction to mount the ink cartridge from a temporary mounting position in the receptacle and to compress the latching unit. The joint portion is fixedly positioned in a bent state due to a recovery force of the compressed latching unit, the moving unit to pivot in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, to permit the latching unit to recover its original form.
The latching unit includes a spring, a latch member connected to a first end of the spring, the latch member having a sloping side corresponding to the latching protrusion, and a contact member connected to a second end of the spring, opposite to the first end of the spring, the contact member having a guide recess formed at an upper end thereof to guide the contact member to contact the moving unit.
Also, the moving unit includes a moving lever, a first end of which is pivotally disposed at the supporting frame, the moving lever to pivot downward to compress the latching unit, a handle lever disposed at a second end, opposite the first end of the moving lever, and to pivot at a predetermined angle, the handle lever first pivoting on the moving lever and then pivoting together with the moving lever. The moving unit further includes a lever spring disposed at a lower end of the handle lever, the lever spring pressing an upper portion of the ink cartridge from the temporary mounting position in the receptacle to contact the supporting frame during the pivoting movement of the handle lever.
At least one of respective hinge connecting portions of the moving lever and the handle lever defines a jaw to restrict an angle of relative pivotal movement of the moving lever and the handle lever. The lever spring is a plate spring made of a metallic material or is made of an engineering plastic material or is a coil spring. The apparatus further includes a position protrusion formed at the moving unit to contact the latching unit during the pivoting of the moving unit, the position protrusion being disposed farther away from the supporting frame than a hinge point on the supporting frame of the moving unit.